Gas to Ash: Nigerian Households Forced Back to Charcoal, Firewood as LPG Hits ₦2,400/kg

For millions of Nigerians, the daily battle against inflation has moved straight to the tabletop cooker. As cooking gas prices climb to an unprecedented ₦2,400 per kilogramme, empty cylinders are being tucked away into corners. In their place, the familiar, stinging smoke of firewood and charcoal is making a grim comeback in major cities as families fight to survive an unrelenting economic squeeze.

Prices differ across locations, with filling stations selling between N1,650 and N1,900 per kg, while neighbourhood retailers and black-market dealers charge up to N2,400. Earlier in the year, prices ranged from about N1,000 to N1,700.

Many residents say the constant increase is making cooking difficult and unsustainable. A housewife in Ibadan, Mrs Deborah Akintola, said: “Last week, I bought gas at Iyana Church Gasland at N1,600 per kilogramme. Now I hear it is N1,900 and even over N2,000 in some shops. In May, it was N1,000. This increase is just too much.”

Mary Dada also lamented: “I don’t understand why the price keeps going up. Every month, there is one increase or another.”

In Lagos, Desire Billy said: “It has got to a point where you buy gas and cannot use it to cook beans… It keeps increasing.”

In Ilorin, Kemisola Nitta said: “We have stopped using gas and opted for charcoal. I think it is cheaper.”

Marketers say a 20-metric-tonne supply now costs between N25.2 million and N26.2 million, while the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers warned: “The citizens of Nigeria now have to buy cooking gas… at a prohibitive cost of over N1,500 per kilogramme.”

A reseller, Opeyemi Olaire, blamed logistics, saying: “I sell at N2,400 per kilogramme. If I buy from Gasland at N1,700 and use an okada to transport it for N600, how much do you want me to sell it for?” The continued rise is worsening pressure on households nationwide.